Wall Street rises; sees bright side of higher rates
| Reuters

Wall Street rose on Friday and was headed for its strongest week since March after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said an interest-rate hike would likely be appropriate "in the coming months."

Yellen's is the most important voice in a chorus of policymakers recently suggesting that the U.S. economy has improved enough to warrant tighter borrowing costs, with a growing number of investors now expecting a hike in June or July.

While higher interest rates choke liquidity in stock markets, many investors see a potential rate hike as a vote of confidence that the struggling U.S. economy is finding its legs.

"As we look at our place in the global economy, things just seem to be improving to a point where it certainly looks likely that June or July will be the next launching point," said Paul Springmeyer, portfolio manager at the Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank.

"With the increased strength, we should get up off of those historically low levels where we are."

After Yellen's speech, traders raised their expectations of a June rate hike to 34 percent from 30 percent, according to CME Group.

The Fed next meets on June 14-15.

Data on Friday showed U.S. economic growth slowed in the first quarter, although not as sharply as initially thought.

The energy sector .SPNY dipped 0.36 percent as oil dipped on concerns that a recent rebound could lead producers to increase output.

At 2:48 pm, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 0.08 percent at 17,843.22 points and the S&P 500 .SPX had gained 0.22 percent to 2,094.62.